Now. This is when it gets toughest, when the Lakers' problems are either tolerable or fatal.
With the clock ticking on their season and every game's importance escalating, the Lakers needed to conquer a familiar rival, one that has dominated matchups between the two for more than two years.
Facing the Phoenix Suns, who the Lakers have defeated just once in their last nine meetings, the team was going to have to be close to its best, the mistakes meaning more as each possession took on extra weight.
